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Oregonian,
The ( |
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Author: PHIL MANZANO
- of the Oregonian Staff
Summary: Three months after the head of
From
It has been three months
since Michael Francke,
their brother and head of
``There isn't an hour a
day that I don't think about the fact that he's dead,'' Pat Francke said. ``I try to
imagine what happened the last few minutes, I try to figure it out in my
mind.''
With a telephone and fax
machine, Francke
has mounted a steady campaign to keep pressure on police investigators and spur
on efforts to build a substantial reward fund that might entice someone to turn
in Francke's
killer.
Last week, he sent a
letter signed by his parents to every daily newspaper in
Meanwhile, there has
been no arrest in the Francke murder, although
But Penn refused to say
whether they had identified a specific suspect in the case.
``We have people that we
are looking at, but I hesitate to say that we have a suspect or a short list of
suspects,'' Penn said.
An
Officials would not say
whether he was considered a suspect, a witness or an informant or whether he
was still under investigation.
And Penn refused to
discuss to whom investigators were talking.
Penn said publishing
names of people being questioned in the case was ``counterproductive'' to the
investigation and may hamper their ability to corroborate evidence because some
information is suspect.
Continuing a practice
that began from nearly the moment the investigation started, Penn has remained
tight-lipped about the status of the case.
``What I can say is it's
under investigation, it's still an active case,'' Penn said. ``We're still receiving
information that's helpful to the case; however, we haven't made an arrest and
I don't have any kind of timetable when or if that might occur.''
It was just before
He had told some
employees who were also working late that night that he had a dinner date.
The Corrections
Department headquarters are located in the
Somewhere between the
door and his car, Francke
met his killer or killers. It is believed to have been a swift attack; the
killer stabbing through the heart and lung and then fleeing into the darkness.
Fatally wounded, Francke
struggled up the nearby steps of a small north wing patio. He broke a small
window pane in a door but failed to attract anyone.
Some employees began
noticing Francke's
absence. Richard S. Peterson, assistant director in charge of institutions,
searched the building unsuccessfully. Some other employees found Francke's
car door open. They closed it and locked the door.
It was almost six hours
later when a state hospital communications center employee on a routine check
of the grounds discovered Francke's body. In the ensuing days Peterson was appointed
interim director of the Corrections Department. Later,
Questions and rumors
swirled around the murder. olice
said Francke
suffered other wounds but refused to be specific.
Exactly where outside
the
Originally more than 30
investigators from throughout
More than 2,000 people
have been interviewed and the case has taken some investigators out of state in
search of clues. But Penn would not elaborate on the significance of their research.
He added that the
presumed motive in the case remains either revenge or robbery, although Pat Francke
maintains his brother was not killed in a robbery or random street crime.
``He knew who it was
that came at him,'' Francke
said. Such familiarity would be necessary to get close enough to Francke, who
was 6-foot-3 or to lure him away from his car, he thinks.
Francke said he thought his brother may have been investigating
something illegal involving someone in
He said investigators
had looked into that angle and had no evidence to support it, but they have not
discarded it as a possible motive in the crime.
Hoping to pry loose
information in the case, Gov. Neil Goldschmidt set up a reward fund Feb. 16. After
a fitful start, the fund has reached nearly $16,000 in the last week.
Contributions can be
sent to the Michael Francke
Reward Fund, U.S. Bank, Ladd & Bush Branch,